Phonograph record and method for producing same



March 16,1926. 1,576,582

V. H. EMERSON PHONOGRAPH RECORD AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME Filed Oct. 20, 1920 Patented Mar. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES VICTOR H. EMERSON, OF NEW YORK, N.'Y.

PI-IONOGRAPH RECORD AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME.

Application filed October 20, 1920. SeriatNo. 418,245. i

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VioroR H. EMEnsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city, county, and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Phonograph Records and Methods for Producing Same, of which the following is a specification. 7

This invention relates to phonograph records and methods for producing same and has for an object the formation of a composite record, lessening the cost of materials employed, without affecting the record as to its durability or efficiency in sound repro' duction.

Considered in its more generic aspect, my improved record and the process for its production relate to the formation of a laminated record having as a body portion a core formed of other than record material, so called, and having the material laid over the top of the record surface of the body portion to the required depth.

For the body portion of n'iy-in'iproved record I employ a specifically prepared type of paper con'iposition, and hence broadly considered my invention pertains to two distinct arts, partaking largely of processes employed in the manufacture of papers in the preliminary stages thereof, and also of the art of making phonograph records.

In making paper from Wood pulp the first step is to eliminate from the fibrous cellulose foreign materials which comprise the inter-cellular accretions of glutinous, silicious, resinous and other deposits, thus producing the fibre in a relatively pure and strong condition. To this extent my employment of the methods of the paper making art involves nothing novel or materially different from the ordinary processes now in general use. However, having thus produced a fibrous mass of more or less pure cellulose, I re-introduce resin and clay in the required proportions, thoroughly mixing those ingredients with the wood fibre so as to form a homogeneous mass that may be rolled into sheets of the required form and consistency.

In first breaking up the material in order to extract the fibrous portions as free from ,forei 'n substances as racticable and then restoring the resin and clay components which may have been removed in such pre liminary processes, a new form of material results which has a uniformly fine texture that lends itself most effectively to record making, not only as to its strength and toughness, but; possessing other properties that enable me to provide a superior record surface. 1 h

, Iaving reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrative of a preferred form of my improved record,

Figure 1 is a plan viewof a record having a bodyportion with a superimposed surface of record material, a portion of the top surface having been shown removed; and Fig. Qis a partial diametral section of the record shown in Fig. 1.

Having reference to the drawings, the numeral 1 represents a preferred form of record produced by my improved process, comprising the body or core portion 2 made of cellulose fibres thoroughly enmeshing the minute particles of clayey materials and resin with which they arecombined, as will presently more fully appear.

Tlhe body portion 2 of my improved record is first made in sheets from wood pulp having a clay, and preferably silica both, in a finely ground powdered form, and resin soap thoroughly mixed therewith, all of which ingredients are mixed into a uniform homogeneous mass. In obtaining this admixture I employ the cellulose fibre in approximately parts, the resin in 10 parts and the clay and silica in'QO parts, although a slight variation of the portions while affecting the rela two properties of the resulting product would produce a phonograph record of varying excellence.

The mass is then rolled into sheets of predetermined thickness in the same manner as paper is ordinarily formed. From the sheets thus prepared the disks maybe die-ed out, whereupon the thermoplastic record material is then applied'to both sides of the disk 2 when a double faced record is desired, and a soundrecord groove 4- is impressed in the surface thereof.

Preferably I employ the record material 3 in the convenient form known as record dust, which is spread uniformly to the re quircd depth over the fiat surface or surfaces of the disk in the usual manner, and the pressing of the record matrix is likewise performed in the ordinary method now in vogue, in vwl'iich the required temperature is imparted to the record material in the process of stamping the record. The record material thus by action of the heated matrix zit) not only receives the impression of the sound record matrix, but attaches itself to the specially prepared paper disk, forming in the process a most intimate and firm union therewith, owing primarily to the resinous element of the core material.

Heretofore, I am aware, many efforts have been made to obtain laminated records of which a paper base has been employed without attaining to the required degree of efiicicncy. The paper in the ordinary form of commerce has insufficienthardness or firmness of texture to stand up under the impression pressure, but reacts after the stress of stamping is removed and an imperfect record results.

To overcome this specific difiiculty various schemes have been employed to render more rigid and less compressible the paper material thus employed, especially porous types of paper having been employed in certain instances, the manufactured paper body being taken in substantially its finished form for the initial step of all such processes.

However, by my improved process I take the unformed cellulose fibres obtained in the same manner as in making paper and, as already pointed out, thereto add the stiffening and sizing elements as above in a form that renders them peculiarly adaptable to a perfect union with the fibrous cellulose. That is to say,Iemploy the resin inthe proportion mentioned first dissolved preferably in an alkali solution. Then the powdered clay in suitable proportions is incorporated therewith, the two in turn being thoroughly mixed with the cellulose pulp until the clayey and silica components are thoroughly bound to the fibres of the cellulose ingredient. When the combining process has been carried on to the required extent a uniform homogeneous fibrous material results, modifying the natural pliability of the cellulose fibre by means of the added qualities of the rigidity and stiffness of the clay and silica components having been illtroduced in the proper proportions to produce the required stiffness.

The resulting product is then rolled into sheets of the desired thickness in the usual manner, then cut into disks of the required diameter, preferably by dieing, the central orifice being usually inserted by the dieing out process. The disk thus prepared receives upon its flat surface a thin layer of thermoplastic record material, dusted on in the ordinary way, in which the record material in that form is applied, and with the record material thus adhering to the surfaces of the paper disk, the article is inserted in the usual stamping press wherein the matrix is brought to the required temperature to cause the thermoplastic record material to fle in which condition it makes a permanent, lasting cleavage with the paper impregnated with the resin binder which as has been described serves also to unite the clayey and other particles with the cellulose fibres. At the same time the presence of the clayey particlesfurnishes sufficient rigidity to the body member 2 so that the full impression of all the irregularities produced in the recording of the sound are fully and minutely imprinted and recorded in the groove thus formed in the record mate 'ial. Furthermore, the presence of the silica particles is so completely and uniformly distributed throughout the entire body portion of the paper core as to prevent the paper from yielding under the pressure of the stamping process, thereby becoming distorted, later to r'e-form and otherwise affect disastrously the sound record impressed in the record material thereon.

I am ai'v'are that various efforts have been made thus to impregnate the texture of the ordinary paper, to this end some of the more porous types of blotting paper having been employed. But in all known processes by which this object was sought to be attained, it has been found upon investigation that portions of the paper had received the ingredients in excess proportions, while other parts received an insufficient portion of the sizing material, the paper hotly or core remaining comparatively soft and spongy. Therefore it is an important feature of my present invention that I am able at the outset to produce a perfectly uniform homogeneous core member to which the record layer will make a permanent union and will receive a perfect record, even to the minutest undulatory detail thereof.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

l. A tablet having a body member of HODI'GCOl't'l n'raterial, containing in uniform arrangen'ient throughout its body in predetermined proportions silica clay and resin, having upon. the surface a layer of thermoplastic record material with a sound record therein.

2. A tablet having a body portion of specially prepared paper board containing in {undetermined proportions silica clayey material and resin and a thermoplastic record layer thereon having a sound record recorded therein.

3. A method of making phonograph records by my improved process which con sists in first preparing a cellulose pulp substantially free from other materials, adding thereto a resin solution containing silica in substantially the proportions of ten parts of resin, twenty parts silica, seventy parts of cellulose pulp, thoroughly mixing the same to form a homogeneous material, then rolling into sheets of predetermined thickness, drying and stamping therefrom disks of suitable size and lastly impressing thereon by means of heated matrices a layer of thern'ioplastic material having a sound record groove therein.

4. A process for making tablets for sound records which consists in first providing a pulp of cellulose fibre, removing therefrom all resinous and other foreign substances, adding in predetermined portions 10 diameter for records to be made thereupon. 15v

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. 7

VICTOR H. EMERSON. 

